Exeter beats Manheim Central in the 2nd round of the State Playoffs

Tagged under: District 3, Gameday Hub, News

Pat Weider | November 13, 2021

Exeter entered the second round of the playoffs with a 7-3 record and a number 7 seed in the 5A District 3 playoffs, but they came into Manheim and dominated number 2 seed Manheim Central in all facets of the game Friday night with a 43-20 victory. Exeter lead 22-0 after the 1st Quarter, and 36-0 at half time. Head Coach Matt Bauer on the win “Couldn’t be prouder of this team. I talk about this all the time that we want to play our best ball in November. I said it all year this is a special group of kids”. 

Exeter was led by running back Eric Nangle who rushed for 233 yards and had 3 rushing touchdowns. He set the tone early with his hard running. He broke off touchdown runs of 43 yards, 22 yards, and another of 22 yards in the 1st Quarter when Exeter stunned Central. Bauer on Nangle “He ran so hard tonight. He is a blue-collar and tough kid. It showed tonight”. 

Colin Payne also threw 2 touchdown passes in the 1st half to help extend the lead to 36-0. Payne hit Joey Schlaffer with a 31-yard touchdown pass and JR Strauss with a 14-yard touchdown pass. When Payne stepped back to pass he had great protection all night to get rid of the ball in a timely manner. 

All night long Exeter offensive and defensive lines dominated. On the offensive, they created rushing lanes for Nangle. On defense, they stopped Central’s rushing attack and put pressure on Quarterback Judd Novak all night. Bauer on his line’s performance “That is our heart and soul. We challenged them last night. If they could control the line of scrimmage we would win the game “. 

Exeter 3 losses were to Governor Mifflin (9-0), Hempfield (7-4), and Central York (11-1) so they were battled tested all year against playoff-caliber teams. It gave them the confidence to go play a talented Manheim Central team on their home turf and to dominate them. Bauer on his team’s performance “I would say yes that is the best game of the year. All and all we played a very good game”.  Coach Bauer was also impressed by his coaching staff in particular with the defensive game plan.  Bauer said this about his staff “Our coaching staff did a great job. We saw some stuff on film and did some different coverages to confuse them. We aligned properly, put pressure on them, and tackled very well”. Exeter excelled all night in getting the victory against Manheim Central. 

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